The recycling of disposable aluminum beverage cans has become a matter of concern and interest to not only the can industry and protectors of the ecology but also to groups, organizations and even individuals who have come to realize the fund raising or income supplementing potential of collecting and recycling aluminum cans.
The main drawback an individual faces in collecting a meaningful number of cans is that, due to their size and shape, the cans quickly fill a collecting bag such as a plastic garbage bag. Therefore, a device for crushing the cans would facilitate and encourage collecting and recycling.
In the past can crushers have consisted of elaborate machines that were costly to manufacture in that they usually involved hydraulically or pneumatically actuated moving parts. Such devices were also too heavy or bulky to be hand held and carried with an individual as he collected discarded cans.